It’s no secret the Calgary Flames spent many years drafting very poorly, and it shows. A rebuild kicked off in 2013 yielded just three high draft picks, only one of which was in the top five. The Flames picked fourth in the 2014 NHL draft and sixth in 2013 and 2016.
Making the playoffs in 2015 and winning their first playoff round since 2004 was the beginning of the end for that rebuild. The team’s management had a taste of success, but it was an unsustainable success. The theme of the team that year was third-period comeback wins. It was exciting, for sure, but unsustainable.
Since the Flames traded their 2018 first-round pick, I consider that year as being the end of the rebuild. The Flames’ following first-round picks would end up 26th, 24th, 13th, 26th, 16th, and, most recently, ninth. Of the 38 picks the Flames made over six drafts from 2013 to 2018, only eight players would go on to play at least 100 games for the Flames.
Now that I’ve established just how bad the Flames drafted during the last rebuild, we can look at the positives. Let’s see what kind of lineup we can build with their best draft picks over the last 15 years. Let’s dive in!
Breaking down the Flames’ forward group
| LEFT WING | CENTRE | RIGHT WING |
|---|---|---|
| Johnny Gaudreau | Sean Monahan | Matthew Tkachuk |
| Andrew Mangiapane | Sam Bennett | Matt Coronato |
| Micheal Ferland | Connor Zary | Matthew Phillips |
| Sven Baertschi | Martin Pospisil | Matvei Gridin |
The Flames were unable to find a superstar centre
Centre is one of the most important positions in hockey. Looking at past Stanley Cup champions, every team since 2010 has had a legitimate superstar top centre, except the 2019 St. Louis Blues. The three-time winning Chicago Blackhawks had Jonathan Toews. The Los Angeles Kings, two-time champs: Anze Kopitar. Pittsburgh Penguins, two-time champs: Sidney Crosby. Tampa Bay Lightning, two-time champs: Steven Stamkos. Boston Bruins? Patrice Bergeron. Washington Capitals? Nicklas Backstrom. Colorado Avalanche? Nathan MacKinnon. Vegas Golden Knights? Jack Eichel. Florida Panthers? Sam Bennett Aleksander Barkov.
A superstar centre is key to building a championship team, and they’re almost exclusively available in the draft. So, what does the Flames’ centre lineup look like?
Sean Monahan—the Flames’ sixth overall pick in 2013—is easily their number one centre. He has scored 244 goals and 538 points through 764 NHL games with a career 51.0 faceoff win percentage. He also boasts solid possession stats with a 55.6 Corsi For percentage, and 55.2 Fenwick For percentage. He’s no superstar, but he’s still great, and we love him.
The middle-six centres are a toss-up between Sam Bennett and Connor Zary. I give the edge to Bennett for second-line given his work in that role for the Panthers, but I think Zary has more skill and a higher ceiling. Martin Posipsil’s incredible 2023–24 season for the Flames is enough for him to lock down fourth-line centre. His competition for that spot is limited to Adam Ruzicka, Mark Jankowski, and Markus Granlund.
The Flames found incredible talent on the wings
The late, great Johnny Gaudreau gets the top spot at left wing. He was a play-driver, and that’s the kind of player you need eating up the most ice time. He had 241 goals and 739 points in his 763-game NHL career, capped off by a 40-goal, 115-point campaign in 2021–22. His career 58.1 CF% and 57.6 FF% are superb. Any team is lucky to have this superstar manning the left flank!
Naturally, Matthew Tkachuk is the top dog on the right wing. I put him on this side because that’s where he’s played and thrived over the last few seasons. However, it was a tough call, considering he spent five of his six years in Calgary on the left side. Tkachuk has had two 40-goal, 100-point seasons, two Stanley Cup Final appearances, and one Stanley Cup championship in the last three years. Over the two Cup runs, he scored 17 goals and 46 points in 44 games. A true superstar winger!
We’re looking at a top line of Gaudreau—Monahan—Tkachuk, and I’m here for it!
Behind Gaudreau, Andrew Mangiapane is a great secondary scoring option, having potted 35 in a year a couple of years ago. He scored 109 times in 417 games as a Flame, and that’s about as much as you can ask of your secondary scorer. Micheal Ferland then comes out, delivering bone-crushing hits while still being able to provide a scoring touch. And last out is Sven Baertschi, who can eat up to 10 minutes a night and provides decent depth scoring. He did score 47 goals on 304 shots—a 15.46 shooting percentage—over his best three seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. However, I don’t think Andrew Basha is too far away from snagging that position.
Then Matt Coronato joins Mangiapane and Bennett on the second line, likely to be the offence-driver. It’s actually pretty absurd that we’re even talking about him this high in the lineup, given how unproven he is, but that’s a testament to Calgary’s drafting! I do like the idea of a Mangiapane—Bennett—Coronato line, though. It’s a nice mix of just about everything.
Your third-line right wing is Matthew Phillips. Yes, that’s right. And this is with Tkachuk included on the right side! It’s also very possible Phillips gets ousted from this spot in the near future. In the meantime, the expectation is that he will provide some additional speed and scoring threat. Ferland—Zary—Phillips could work; we’ve already seen Zary play with someone similar to Ferland in Pospisil, and it works. Can Phillips provide the Nazem Kadri-like presence? Not likely, but someone needs to suit up!
Adding yet another scoring forward, 2024 first-round pick Matvei Gridin makes the fourth line on this team. Jacob Battaglia—a 2024 second-round pick—and Patrick Holland are the only ones providing him any semblance of competition. Holland is the only other right winger the Flames have drafted since 2010 to actually play NHL games. And he got a whopping five of them. I would rather trust the raw Gridin than go to a guy who has shown he can’t cut it in the pros. So that’s a fourth line of Baertschi—Pospisil—Gridin.
The Flames drafting of defence is an enigma
| LEFT DEFENCE | RIGHT DEFENCE |
|---|---|
| Juuso Valimaki | Adam Fox |
| Oliver Kylington | Rasmus Andersson |
| Brett Kulak | Zayne Parekh |
Oddly, the Flames have been better at drafting right-handed defencemen than left-handed defencemen. Typically, NHL teams covet the RHD as they’re much harder to find, but the Flames have done well in finding good RHD in the draft. Unfortunately, the left side is notably weaker.
A top pairing of Juuso Valimaki and Adam Fox could be fun. Valimaki—a two-way defenceman—could play the part of a stabilizing presence, allowing Fox free reign of the ice. Valimaki is still very much unproven though, in large part due to significant injuries early in his career. Valimaki’s possession numbers are right around 50%, while Fox’s are much higher at 56.0 CF% and 56.7 FF%.
Following up is a second pair of Oliver Kylington and Rasmus Andersson. The Flames drafted both in the second round of the 2015 NHL draft. Andersson is a very good two-way defenceman capable of eating big minutes and chipping in offensively. He’ll be the steadying presence for Kylington, who is more of a smooth-skating puck-mover. Unfortunately, Kylington missed nearly two years for mental health reasons, making him a pretty raw 27-year-old.
Finally, we have Brett Kulak and 2024 first-round pick Zayne Parekh. Kulak has created a nice career for himself as a reliable depth defender. He won’t chip in much offensively, but he’s exactly the type of guy you’d want to pair Parekh with. Kulak will help acclimate Parekh to the NHL game, where the latter will undoubtedly rise to stardom. Parekh has superb skating, puck skills, and hockey IQ. He could very well become what the Flames missed out on in Fox. But he’ll have to earn the ice time at first.
One thing to note about this Flames blue line is it’s not Brian Burke approved. It’s not a very physical group and could struggle in its own end. But it sure would be fun hockey on the offensive side of the puck.
The Flames haven’t drafted a starting goaltender (yet)
| GOALTENDERS |
|---|
| Dustin Wolf |
| Laurent Brossoit |
This one’s a bit of a sore spot. The Flames have drafted promising goalies with high picks who just didn’t pan out. First, it was Jon Gillies in the third round of the 2012 draft, ahead of the likes of Frederik Andersen, Connor Hellebuyck, and Linus Ullmark.
In 2014, Mason McDonald was their first pick of the second round, 34th overall. McDonald hasn’t played an NHL game, and goalies like Igor Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin, and Thatcher Demko were all picked later.
The Flames didn’t learn, selecting Tyler Parsons in the second round of the 2016 draft. Parsons also hasn’t played an NHL game. At least the most notable goaltenders drafted after him are Filip Gustavsson, Connor Ingram, and Joseph Woll.
Dustin Wolf and Laurent Brossoit are easily the best goalies the Flames drafted since 2010. Brossoit has carved out a nice career as a backup, and that’s where we’ll leave him. He hasn’t shown he can handle a starter’s workload, but he’s developed into an incredibly reliable secondary option.
By default, the starting job is Wolf’s to lose. He’s incredibly athletic and has been dominant at every level so far, winning Goaltender of the Year for four consecutive years split evenly between the WHL and AHL. Let’s hope he continues this development and evolves into a franchise goaltender for the Flames.
Looking at the full lineup
So there you have it. Overall poor drafting and lack of high picks has left the Flames lacking in many areas. The overall depth is weak, and there are too many unproven players too high in the lineup. But it’s not all bleak, and there are some players worth going to see! Hopefully we can revisit this in five years and see some of the recent picks higher in the lineup!
Gaudreau—Monahan—Tkachuk
Mangiapane—Bennett—Coronato
Ferland—Zary—Phillips
Baertschi—Pospisil—Gridin
Valimaki—Fox
Kylington—Andersson
Kulak—Parekh
Wolf
Brossoit
Do you agree with our assessment? What would you change? Let us know!
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
